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Previous Volume 335:206-207 July 18, 1996 Number 3 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: We wish to highlight morphologic and hemodynamic characteristics of the pulmonary microcirculation that strongly support the concept of stress-induced failure of pulmonary capillaries in high-altitude pulmonary edema rather than pulmonary arterioles, as suggested by Jerome and Severinghaus (March 7 issue).¹

It is highly unlikely that small arterioles are the locus minoris resistentiae, since in animals susceptible to high-altitude pulmonary edema, pulmonary arterioles down to 20 µm in diameter have smooth-muscle cells. Moreover, animals subjected to chronic hypoxia have small arterioles with hyperplasia of immature smooth-muscle cells that form a distinct medium between the external and internal elastic . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Bartsch, P., Gibbs, J. S. R. (2007). Effect of Altitude on the Heart and the Lungs. Circulation 116: 2191-2202 [Full Text]